Waiting for Jo (8 page)

I plaster a huge smile and reach out my hand
to her. “That would be me.”

She stands up and shakes my hand. “I’m
Debbie. We’re glad to have you on board. James is in court right
now, but he told me to show you around and take you to your office.
He even left some work for you to do, but feel free to take some
time to get settled in,” she says.

“Thanks, Debbie. It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too! Now follow me,” Debbie commands.
She shows me the small the kitchen, the bathroom, and then James’
office. “Your office is right here next to James.”

I take a step into my office and I’m shocked
to see tons of paperwork stacked in various piles on my new desk
with notes from James lying all around. Debbie wasn’t kidding.

“Your e-mail is all set up, and I stocked
your desk with supplies, but if there’s anything else you need just
holler, and I’ll help you out. I’ll leave you to it now,” she
says.

“Thanks, Debbie,” I say as she walks back
towards reception.

Debbie seems really nice. She kind of reminds
me of Paula Deen. I image that she has a ton of grandchildren and
that she makes huge Sunday dinners and bakes cookies. When I was a
kid, I had always wished that I had a grandma like that. My mom
wasn’t close to her mother, and she died when I was a baby having
never met me. I have a few memories of my dad’s mother, but she
disappeared from my life when my dad did. I was always jealous of
other kids who spent summers with their grandparents and received
birthday cards filled with cash every year.

I turn on my computer and see that my e-mail
is all ready to go. I even have an e-mail from James:

To: Josephine O’Shea

From: James Parker

Sorry that I couldn’t be there to welcome
you, but I trust that Debbie is helping you settle in. I’m also
sorry about the paperwork on your desk. We’re behind on everything,
so the sooner you can get started the better. I’ll be in this
afternoon. Text me if you have any questions.

I rearrange a few things in my office and
then organize the stacks of work that James has left for me. I
spend a few hours working on a “motion for discovery and inspection
of evidence” for a drug possession case. It’s very different from
the business law projects that I worked on at the firm, but I’m
definitely up for the challenge.

I’m enthralled in the motion and don’t hear
James come into my office.

“How’s it going, Jo?” he says. I look up from
my work and see his handsome face staring down on me and suddenly
feel insecure.

“It’s going well. I’ve been working on this
‘motion for discovery’,” I say as I point to the paperwork on my
desk.

“Oh, good. We need to file that by
Wednesday.” James seems pleased that I’ve gotten started on things.
“Hey, do you want to grab some lunch? I’m famished and it will give
us a chance to go over some things.”

“Sure,” I say. “I could eat too.”

“Great. You ready now?”

“Yeah,” I say as I stand up and move from
behind my desk.

“Wow! You look really…um...nice. Are you
going to dress like this every day?”

I try to hide my smile. “I guess we’ll see,”
I say coquettishly.

Chapter 1
1

James opens the door for me at Dominic's
Trattoria, and puts his hand on my lower back, guiding me into the
restaurant. I welcome the contact. His touch still drives me
crazy.

“Long time, no see,” says the waitress to
James and me. “It’s been quite a while since you two have been in
here.”

James and I used to meet up at Dominic’s for
lunch when we were dating. It was close to both of our offices, it
has a nice quiet atmosphere, and the food is always good. This is
the first time that I’ve been back since the breakup.

“We’ve both just been crazy busy with work,
but it’s good to see you again, Lorraine,” I say. I’m pretty sure
it would make us all uncomfortable if I told her that the reason
we’ve been MIA is because James kicked me to the curb.

“Well, don’t be strangers anymore. I’ve
missed having you two in here. Now what can I get you to
drink?”

We order our drinks and Lorraine leaves. I
try to think of something to talk about to fill the uncomfortable
silence that has ensued.

“So, how’s your mom doing?” I finally
ask.

“She’s good. Busy. You know how she is. She
never slows down.”

“Your mom always seemed to have a full social
calendar. I think I’d have a hard time keeping up with her.”

“Yep. She’s an active lady. I did get to talk
to her last weekend though. She asked about you and said that she
misses you.”

The truth is that I miss his mom too. Helen
and I became pretty close while James and I were dating. James is
one of five boys, and I think Helen had always wanted a daughter.
We’d go shopping together and get pedicures. I could talk to her
about almost anything too. Now, we only text each other every once
in a while. It’s like I lost a really good friend when my
relationship with James ended.

I do my best to put a smile on my face, but I
can’t hide that I’m sad. “Tell her that I miss her too.”

James reaches across the table and grabs a
hold of my hand. “Everyone misses you, Jo,” he says. His gesture
lightens my mood. James can be so sweet sometimes. I’d bet anything
that by “everyone” he means himself.

“Here are your iced teas,” Lorraine says.
James lets go of my hand as she sets the drinks down on the
table.

Lorraine takes our orders and then quickly
serves us our lunch. As I eat my poached salmon salad with dill
dressing and James downs his lobster ravioli, I think about how I’m
glad that I decided to take this job. Maybe things will work out
for the two of us.

***

After finishing up the motion and a few other
things, I leave the office for the evening. Before pulling out of
the parking lot, I take out my phone and text Will.

Me: First day went well. How are you?

I keep my phone in the center console while I
drive so that I can see if Will responds, but by the time I get
home I still haven’t heard from him.

Malcolm’s sweet, happy face is peeking
through the blinds as I pull up in my driveway. He runs to the door
to greet me when I enter and then jumps up on me when I get
inside.

“Hi, puppy,” I say. “Wanna go outside?”
Malcolm runs to the back door and waits impatiently for me to let
him out. Once Malcolm is outside, I pull my phone out of my purse.
Still no return text from Will. He must be working or
something.

I feel restless, and I don’t know what to do
with myself. There are dishes to be put away and laundry to fold,
but I’m just not in the mood for that. I’m full of energy, and I
need to release it. Preferably by doing something that doesn’t
involve housework. And then I realize that I haven’t run with
Malcolm in a long time. The sun won’t be setting for a while and
Malcolm would probably love a trip to the park.

Chapter 1
2

I pull into the lot of Grant Park and let
Malcolm out of the car. He’s so excited, that I’m having a hard
time getting him to sit while I put my keys in the zipper pocket of
my running shorts.

“Stay, Malcolm. Stay!” I say. But Malcolm
refuses to listen, and he pulls away from me with all of his
strength. I lose my grip on him, and he takes off running toward
the center of the park.

“Malcolm, get back here!” I run after him as
fast as I can. I chase him for about two hundred yards, but he’s a
fast, little dog, and the distance between us grows longer and
longer. I finally see him stop at a blanket where a man and boy
appear to be having a picnic.

I see the man grab onto his collar and look
around. He’s probably looking for Malcolm’s owner. I jog the rest
of the way over to the blanket to retrieve my wayward pup. As I get
closer, I can see that the man looks familiar.

“Hey, Will! I can’t believe I’m running into
you here. Thanks for catching Malcolm!” I say. I pick up Malcolm’s
leash and pull him toward me. “Bad dog!” I say.

“I didn’t have to really catch him. He ran
right to me.” Will stands up and hugs me.

“I was just about to go for a run, but he
bolted as soon as I let him out of the car.”

I turn to the little boy who’s petting and
hugging Malcolm and not paying attention to anything else that’s
happening.

“Who’s this little guy?” I ask Will.

“This is Blake.” Will reaches over and pats
him on the head. “We were recently matched through the Big Brother
program. Blake, can you say hi to Jo.”

Blake is an adorable child. He’s probably six
or seven and has a full head of sandy-blonde, curly hair. He stops
petting Malcolm for a second and looks up at me with his big, brown
eyes and grins. “Hi Jo. Is this your dog? What’s his name?”

“That is my dog, and his name is Malcolm. Do
you like him?”

Blake nods without removing the grin from his
face.

“So, do you like having Will as your big
brother?” I ask Blake.

Blake nods his head again so enthusiastically
that I think it might fly off. “Yes! Will is so cool! He took me to
a basketball game before, and once he took me to the batting cages.
He said that if I do real good on my spelling test tomorrow he’ll
take me to get ice cream this weekend.”

“Well, I hope you’ve been studying,” I
say.

I look at Will and we smile at each
other.

“Would you and Malcolm like to join our
picnic?” Will asks.

“We’d love to, but we don’t want to crash in
on boy’s time.”

“It’s fine with me. Is it okay with you,
Blake?”

Blake is busy entertaining himself by pulling
Malcolm’s ears straight up and then letting them go and flop down
to the side of his face. “Mmm hmm,” he says in between giggles.

Blake and I pull out a Frisbee and I try to
teach him the proper way to throw it while Will makes us some
peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches. Will laughs while
watching me chase the wayward Frisbee all over the park. After
about a half hour or so, I come back to the picnic blanket and
throw myself down dramatically.

“Looks like you got a pretty good workout out
there,” Will says as he hands me a sandwich.

“Yeah. I guess I don’t need to go for a run
now. Thanks for the sandwich!” I take the sandwich and sink my
teeth in. “Mmmm. I forgot how good grape jelly is,” I say.

We finish our sandwiches while Blake tells us
about his class mascot, Marty the iguana.

“Thanks for letting Malcolm and I crash your
picnic,” I say to Blake and Will.

“You’re very welcome” Will says smiling at
me. “Blake and I will walk you to your car.”

We pack up the blanket and food and head
towards my SUV.

“Hey, do you want to go to the concert at the
botanical garden tomorrow night? The Funky Butt Brass Band is
playing.” Will asks.

“Yeah. I’ve been meaning to catch one of
those concerts. I’ve never been, and I’ve heard they’re really
fun.”

“Great! The music starts at 7:30. So I’ll
pick you at 7:00.”

“Perfect!” I say. “I’ll see you then.”

I load Malcolm in the car and hop in. Blake
and Will wave to me as I drive away.

***

The next day, I walk into the office with a
little pep in my step. I had a really nice time at the park with
Will and Blake, James seems to be renewing his interest in me, and
I haven’t heard from the stalker for a while. Maybe the creep has
gotten tired of me and has moved on to someone else.

“Good mornin’, Jo,” Debbie says as I pass by
reception. She winks at me. “There’s a surprise for you on your
desk. Must be from some special man in your life.”

“Oh?” I say. “I don’t have a special man in
my life.” I try to not act too paranoid, but my mind goes
immediately to the stalker. I rush back to my office, eager to see
what’s waiting for me. Next to my computer, is the biggest, most
ornate bouquet I’ve ever seen. There are roses and lilies and other
flowers that I don’t even recognize. In all, there must be three
dozen blooms in this thing.

I haven’t received live flowers from the
stalker for a while. Maybe these are from somebody else. I smile to
myself. Perhaps James had them delivered as a belated welcoming
gift.

I pull the card out from the mass of flowers
and open the envelope. My smile quickly fades. The names James
Parker and Will Bennett are written on the card and both names are
crossed out.

I grab the flowers and take them to
reception. “Who delivered these, Debbie?” I ask holding the large
vase in my left arm and pointing to the bouquet.

Debbie can see that I’m agitated. “The flower
company. Is something wrong, hun?”

“I just need to figure out who had these
flowers sent to me.”

“Oh, looks like you got a secret admirer,”
she says with a sly smile on her face.

“Yeah, something like that, I guess,” I
say.

“Well, would you like me to call the flower
company? I can try and get the information out of them.”

“That would be great.” I hand her the
envelope from the card with the florist’s name on it. “Thanks. Let
me know if you find anything,” I say as I walk back to my office
with the flowers.

I pull out my stalker notebook that I
promised Will I’d carry around and log in all of the details of the
flowers and card.

I hear James come into the office and greet
Debbie. He stops at the kitchen and gets a cup of coffee. He almost
passes right by my office but stops as he catches a glimpse of the
flowers.

“Hmmm. Nice flowers,” he says. “Did your
boyfriend send those to you?”

I’m already exasperated, and James’ inquiry
isn’t helping. “No James. I don’t have a boyfriend. My boyfriend
broke up with me. Now all I have is a stalker who sends me creepy
notes and text messages and slashes my tires.”